Toshiba DVR610 tracking and video artifacting problems

[ministry88]

Oy. Methinks this whole VHS to DVD transfer business will be a sticky business indeed.

Here's my situation: I just bought a Toshiba DVR610 after surmising it had the most favorable customer reviews on amazon.com for its price range ($150-200). It IS a VHS/DVD combo unit.

My first "oy" comes from realizing that the VCR component is very cheap and refuses to track many of my tapes. Now, I'm not copying cheap home-made tapes. These are professionally made Pro-grade Maxell Black Magnetite VHS tapes edited on a Panasonic AG-1980 deck. These tapes track fine on my old (nearly 10 years) Toshiba VCR, so I've had no choice but to just hook that up to my DVD recorder, essentially making the built-in VCR in the DVD recorder useless. And, of course, my old Toshiba VCR is starting to give up the ghost, with wavy tracking lines on the bottom of the image and sometimes it refuses to finish rewinding.

The second and most troubling grievance is I've noticed tonight that there is this odd video effect on my transferred DVD-Rs. The video occasionally speeds up for a split second. It looks almost like fast-motion from an undercranked camera. Is this what you mean when you say "jitter" or is that something else? Why is this happening? I also use archival quality Verbatim DVD-Rs. I will say I only noticed it once I had the recorder on for several hours and had already done a few transfers back-to-back. Perhaps I've overtaxed the unit and need to give it a break? This is certainly worrying as I just received this unit a week ago!

So what's going on? Is there some kind of firmware I can download to fix this?

And if indeed I made a mistake with this model, is there a model someone can recommend within my price range (that is, no more than $250) that can reliably go the distance (I have 100s of tapes to transfer)?

THANKS!

[pepegot1]

Combo units are not desirable for copying, backing-up. You need an independent unit with a stabilizer, or TBC to remove macrovision.

[wabjxo]

Click #1 in my signature for a HDD unit for $240 (Mag 2160).

[ministry88]

Ok, so let me see if I have this straight. For a better, more reliable DVD transfer, I should return my Toshiba DVR to amazon and replace it with the Philips 3576 (amazon doesn't have the 3575 model...what is the difference?) and get a good VCR w/ TBC like a JVC S-SVHS VCR for playback.

Really all I want from the Philips is a reliable transfer without that "speedup" effect or any other video artifacting. I would also like this thing to GO THE DISTANCE and not conk out after 30 VHS transfers!

Thanks again for any input!

[samijubal]

There is no difference, both are Funai crap, thus the problems. Your old Toshiba VCR was probably actually made by Toshiba, most were but not all. If you want good VHS to DVD transfers, get a DVD recorder actually made by Toshiba on ebay for the same or less than another Funai junk recorder. You'll have to wait until after Christmas to get one for a decent price. The D-R4 or the XS series Toshiba HDD recorders were the best ever made and will give the best possible results. PQ on the recorders actually made by Toshiba is the best there ever was or ever will be.

The video speeding up is the VCR not picking up the control track right. One or both of the VCRs is/was out of alignment. No matter how good the VCR they were done on was, it could have had alignment problems, it happens to the best of them. It's more likely that it was the new one though. There's no such thing as a decent consumer level VCR anymore, hasn't been for many years.

[ministry88]

I actually found a new Toshiba D-R4 online just now for a reasonable price. It does NOT have a Hard Drive (HDD). Is this one of the models that you (samijubal) and everyone else has been raving (and lamenting) about? If it is, then I will go with that one.

Also, about the VCR: Yes it would not surprise me that my old Toshiba is out of alignment. Would it be worth it to take this VCR to a service tech instead of buying a new JVC S-VHS VCR?

I actually already have a Grex video stabilizer that effectively kills macrovision so I wouldn't need to buy a new VCR with a TBC to kill the macrovision, correct?

[gshelley61]

You can probably buy a working Panasonic AG-1980 on eBay for less than what it will cost to fix your old Toshiba VCR. Working JVC S-VHS units with TBC/DNR (7600, 9600, 9800) are also great machines.

For that many tapes you need a solid, high quality older VCR (the newer ones are all cheap junk).

Get yourself a DVD recorder with a built in hard drive. This saves lots of aggravation. Record your tapes to the DVD recorder's hard drive first, then clip/edit and burn to Taiyo Yuden or Verbatim DVD-R.

Toshiba RD-XS34 or Toshiba RD-XS35 are excellent - my all time personal favorites. Nothing better.

There are a couple of new Philips and Magnavox 160GB DVD recorders available that some folks like. They have built-in ATSC/QAM digital TV tuners. Wal Mart has the Magnavox unit for something like $240.

[ministry88]

OK. It's good to hear another mention of the AG-1980! I've been wanting to pick one of these up for years but never really NEEDED one, until now. I think I will try to find a refurb of this unit, as it is obviously WAAAAY out of my price range new.

So, I guess that just leaves me with the most problematic component...the DVD recorder. Obviously I won't have much budget left after the AG-1980, so can anyone chime in one last time for a DVD recorder that is under $250 that is reliable? I found a Toshiba RD-XS35 for $250 but it's an "all sales final" used unit so that is definitely iffy. Do you think that is a fair price for the unit? I also found the Toshiba D-R4 which seems to be an older unit:

http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-D-R4-Multi-Drive-DVD-Recorder/dp/B0007UVYOY/ref=sr_1_1?i...9644959&sr=8-1[/url]

[samijubal]

The D-R4 has the exact same PQ as the XS recorders, just not as many options for customizing, like bitrate adjustment, custom menu backgrounds and I don't remember what noise reduction it has, I never use it, the XS recorders have NR on the input/output side both.

If you need to edit the recordings, a HDD would be nice, if not, you don't need one. I definitely wouldn't buy a recorder "all sales final". If you take some time getting one you can get a decent deal on one from someone who will guarantee it. This is the worst time of year to buy anything on ebay, prices always go up considerably before Christmas. I got a new XS35 about 6 months ago for $200 with free shipping. You can add a Square Trade warranty to any working recorder pretty cheap. I got three years for less than $17 after using a coupon code I found online. You get three years with a new recorder or one year with a used recorder.

D-R4s usually sell for less than that Amazon link on ebay. You'll need the remote with any recorder.

[ministry88]

Thanks once again Samijubal! And thanks to ALL you guys for your help! This very maddening situation is finally starting to come into focus.

I really don't need a HDD, so the D-R4 would be fine for me. BUT, I need to know if it is RELIABLE and DURABLE. Can this unit go the distance and transfer 100s of VHS to DVD? Again, my library is quite large. I don't want to invest in this machine if it conks out after 2 months of continuous use.

Also, what is a square trade warranty? Would you recommend buying this recorder refurbished? I've had good luck with refurbished electronics, as my refurbished Denon home theater receiver is still going strong nearly 3 years later...

I think I will take your advice and wait until after Xmas to buy anything.

[samijubal]

I had one used D-R4 die after about six months of daily use. The second used one is still working two + years later. Square trade is just a warranty company that sells warranties on ebay purchases along with new products. They get the best reviews of any warranty company I've seen. On a recorder the price of a D-R4, they would buy you out for the purchase price minus shipping to them if it had a problem. You could do a lot of transfers in a year if you went at it. A HDD does put a lot less wear on the burner which is what usually dies. With a HDD the disc can be burned and finalized in less than ten minutes instead of two hours of real time burning.

If you can find a recorder with buy it now from a seller that accepts PayPal, you can use Live Search to get up to 30% cash back. You have to use buy it now and pay with PayPal and you need a windows ID, if you don't have one just sign up for a free Hotmail account. Just go to Live Search and keep doing searches until you see the 30% cash back at ebay tab and click it. Search for expensive stuff like PS3, Xbox, etc.

[samijubal]

Your tape speeding up problems could just be that the control head is dirty enough to not pick up the signal, it doesn't usually get that dirty but I've seen it happen. You can easily clean it with a q-tip wet with alcohol. The control/audio heads are the stationary head assembly on the right side of the drum when looking at the VCR from the front.

[ministry88]

Samijubal - What about the Toshiba DR-5? I've tried in vain to order two DR-4's and each time the store responded it was out of stock *So, the big question is: Doe the DR-5 have the same build quality and reliability (and PQ) as the DR-4? Was it still actually made by TOSHIBA and not outsourced to Funai?

Thanks!

[samijubal]

I've never seen a D-R5. I think they were still made by Toshiba but I don't know that for sure. I know some of the record/playback options of the D-R4 weren't in the D-R5. D-R4s can definitely still be found on ebay but I don't know how long a recorder from '05 would last. Standalone recorder burners don't last anywhere near as long as PC burners from my experience.

[ministry88]

Can anyone chime in on the quality of the Pioneer DVR-531H? Seems ebay has a bunch of these manufacturer refurbished with a 90 day warranty for $240. I know Pioneer is a great brand and I've heard good things about their DVD recorders.

Does anyone have any experience with this unit? Is it reliable and durable?

Thanks!